White House press secretary Jay Carney took questions on Twitter and conducted his daily press briefing. Here are some takeaways:

1.) NO MORE HOSTAGE TAKING: On Speaker John Boehner's remarks that he will ask for more spending cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling increase: " It is simply not acceptable to hold the American and global economy hostage."

2.) A BALANCED APPROACH: Carney says that Republicans need to adopt a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction, if they want Obama to sign off on the plan.

3.) A BALANCED APPROACH: Carney says that Obama will encourage Europe to adopt a "balanced approach" to growth and austerity.

4.) UNSUNG HERO AWARD: Goes to Rob Nabors, according to Carney — who was asked during his Twitter Q&A.

Full liveblog after the jump.

Carney is taking questions via Twitter.

Q: WIll it be embarrassing for the White House if the president's budget gets no votes?

Carney calls it a gimmick.

Q: Will the White House block plans to drill in th

Carney: Says he doesn't have a specific answer to that question.

More: Obama "believes that we can expand domestic oil and gas production in a safe and responsible way."

More: "That's a position that's in stark contrast" with Republicans.

Q: How come women are faring so bad in the current economy?

Carney: "The recession that we experienced in this country … the very worst recession that almost everyone who is watching this has experienced in his or her lifetime … caused it its early years dramatic job loss for men in particular."

More: "That's evened out, and women at the other end of the recession as we were coming out of it, saw significant job loss … Both men and women have suffered …"

Carney says Obama is committed to ensuring that women and all Americans can find work and women who do find work are paid at a fair rate.

Talks about the fair pay act.

Q: European debt crisis. Has the White House considered financial intervention to stabilize the Euro?

Carney: Says that their approach to the Euro crisis is to offer counsel and advice. "Europeans have it within their own capacity to deal with this."

Q: Why is Obama not talking about his record? Is he trying to drive people apart?

Carney: "Well, I would say a couple of things. The president frequently talks about his record. … He speaks very plainly about measures that his administration took."

More: "The economy has been growing steadily."

Carney says the "hole was so deep" and we still have a significant distance to go.

Carney says there are still too many homeowners with underwater mortgages. "The president is constantly discussing with Congress … the need for all of us to work together in a bipartisan way to take action on the economy. The president put out a congressional to-do list."

Q: Who are some of the unsung heroes of the White House?

Carney: "There are a lot of people who are not in the public eye who make every White House run and that's certainly the case here."

More: A person who comes to mind is Rob Nabors, he's the president's congressional liaison.

More: "There are just countless people who fit into that category."

Q: What progress has this admin. made on refugee issues?

Carney: "The answers are more specific to regions where there have been refugee and humanitarian crises."

Carney talks about Obama's focus on Darfur, S. Sudan.

Q: Since manufacturing sector has been the best source of middle class jobs, when can we see a resurgence?

Carney says there already is a resurgence. "It's been one of the truly bright signs in our economy."

* * *

Carney starts his real briefing at 1:31

Carney has a readout of Obama's meeting with Congressional leadership.

Q: Did the president raise the issue that Speaker Boehner raised? Can he indeed separate the debt ceiling debate from the tax cut debate?

Carney: "The president made clear … that we're not going to recreate the debt ceiling debacle of last August. It is simply not acceptable to hold the American and global economy hostage. … It is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that America pays its bills …"

More: "It is also important that Congress act together with the president to deal with our medium and long-term fiscal challenges. That's why the president has put forward a balanced approach to those challenges."

Carney says there is ample opportunity to put into law a balanced approach.

Q: Any question about invoking the 14th amendment?

Carney: I don't believe so.

Q: Today the VP raised the same issues in the campaign ad. What is it about how Romney ran Bain that informs us about how well he would govern?

Carney: Question is best directed at the campaign. "The broader point which I made yesterday is that the president looks forward to discussing with the American people and debating with his opponent what the right vision for America's future is."

More: "And what the president's record shows about what he believes is the right way to go."

More: "That's what elections are all about. One area of agreement … is that we all think the economy is the number one issue."

More: "We need to invest in the right areas… We need to deal with our deficit and debt in a way that does not ask senior citizens and the middle class to bear all the burden but asks everyone to do their fair share. And that's a vision that he'll put forward and looks forward to debating in the campaign season."

Q: What is it about Bain…?

Carney: "While a part of me would enjoy the opportunity to engage with that, I would ask you to take a purely campaign question based on a campaign ad…" to the campaign.

More: "I can interpret what the campaign has said which is that the experience of loading up companies with debt, pulling out profits and in many cases having companies fail … is not the kind of experience that the president thinks, the campaign thinks you would want to apply to the country."

Q: Is the risk Obama took with Solyndra and other clean energy companies the same as the risks Romney took?

Carney: "It is not a complete experience that informs how you make decisions as president."

Q: Can you talk about the atmospherics of todays meeting? Did Boehner's comments change the tone of the meeting?

Carney: "My sense is that the tone was congenial, the discussion was productive, the sandwiches were delicious."

Q: Time to admit defeat on the cease fire plan in Syria?

Carney: "I would simply say that we support the Annan plan. We remain very skeptical about Assad's willingness to comply" with the plan.

More: "We support it, however, because while it is not being fulfilled … it has served to reduce the violence somewhat. Which obviously is a good thing. And it serves as a foundation for the future political reconciliation that will be required."

Q: Is there tacit support for other Gulf states providing weapons to Syrian opposition?

Carney: "We know that others are pursuing different types of support… Our position on this hasn't changed."

Q: The speaker's office has put out its readout… The speaker directly asked the president whether he would propose any cuts. The president said no. Is that correct?

Carney: "The president's point was that we should not hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to one party's political agenda."

More: "It is also the case that we need to take action in a balanced way to deal with our deficit and debt."

More questions about debt ceiling.

Carney: Carney says it's not a good idea to "play chicken" with the global economy and the credit of the United States.

Q: Republicans/Boehner asked what the POTUS plan is to tackle debt crisis?

Carney says it's in Obama's budget. "It cannot be that the way to get to an answer is compromise A, and then refuse to compromise B."

Carney: "The fact of the matter is … we can debate this but … the fiscal commission the president created" called for defense cuts, revenues and non-defense cuts, as well as entitlement reforms. "The levels are different in different areas. The president's budget reflects that entirely."

Carney: The Republican budget "does not represent that balanced approach."

More; "The questions about why you do not support a balanced approach should be asked of Republicans."

Q: Is the U.S. going to ask for G8 support on the release of the SPR?

Carney: "I have no comment."

Q: Oil prices are ticked down. Is it still critical to release oil?

Carney: "That's another way of asking the question about the SPR that I have no information on."

Q: Is SPR on the agenda?

Carney: "I think global economy is on the agenda."

Q: Some of the other topics that were discussed -- did Obama and congressional leaders find any common ground?

Carney: "I would hesitate to character what the leaders themselves said… but I think that broadly speaking, based on my discussion with the president … there was a constructive discussion about the initiatives that Congress could act on in the near future."

More: "It included things like the violence against women act… it included the surface transportation bill…"

More: "I wouldn't want to say there was an agreement to get a specific thing done on a specific day."

More: "There are many items on the agenda … There are a number of opportunities here for bipartisan cooperation. … I think that it was noted in the room… that there have been some bipartisan successes already."

Q: What are the chances that any of the president's agenda/to-do list will get done?

Carney jokes about consulting his crystal ball.

Q: On Chin/N. Korea -- has the White House seen any evidence of China putting pressure on N. Korea?

Carney has no news to report on that.

Q: At the G8 summit, is the president going to encourage the Europeans to move away from austerity?

Carney; "I can tell you that the president's message to the Europeans … is the same message and position that he brought to Cannes to the G20. We have been saying for some time now that growth has to be a factor in Europe… And a balanced approach" that includes dealing with fiscal challenges and to grow the economy.